Saturday, August 15, 2009

Being a "Visionary"

Today is part 17 of a 30 day commitment. To read about how I am blogging to change my life please read here first.

People who build great things from nothing are usually referred to as "visionary". I have spent time lately reflecting on how literal that word is. It all fits in with some of the other concepts that I have outlined earlier. In an earlier blog post titled Getting what you want...what do you want? I talked about taking the time to work on what you want out of your life and not letting negative influences get in the way of dreaming big. In the post Getting what you want, part II, I talked about how catastrophic events in your life often lead to amazing clarity about what you want to accomplish.

But deciding what you want, without some life changing event, is not easy. It is the reason that I'm writing this. In two other posts I discussed the Law of Attraction. The LOA is something that I have only really shared with Amy until this blog. I have been very surprised at how many people have sent me emails saying that they had read the secret and other books on the topic, but yet are still struggling with the concept.

You can actually exercise your ability to try the LOA. It works in excellent with becoming a visionary for what you want out of life. In order to do this, I keep a couple things in mind. One is that the LOA is always working. It is not as simple as focusing on what you want for a few minutes then waiting for it to happen.

LOA returns what you put out whether or not you ask it to. It doesn’t only work when you put effort into it. Setting time to work on envisioning what you want is important, but it is also important that you realize that it works even when you are not putting effort into it. Think of it like a magnet that is always on. You have the control of the polarity (positive or negative) and strength (emotion you put with the thought), but it is always on.

So try this. Actually pick something small that you want. Not a big lofty goal like curing cancer. Decide that you would like $20 in your wallet. Now, here's the catch. If you say to yourself, "I want my wallet to not be empty like it is now, please send me $20" It probably won't work. As a matter of fact, you might be asking the universe to guarantee that your wallet stays empty. Why? Because the image in your head is of your empty wallet. The emotion behind your request is revolving around how bad it feels to have an empty wallet. Your words asked for $20, but your mind did not. So I try to practice like this. I say, "Man, I'm so happy that I have $20 in my wallet (which I don't). I imagine opening my wallet and pulling out the bill and how happy it makes me feel to be able to buy what I want with that money. I see my old worn out wallet in my hands. I can actually feel the papery texture of the bill. I have created the "vision" in a literal sense.

I talked earlier about envisioning winning bmx races as a kid. I'm not sure if everybody caught it, but a key point in the practice was stopping when the vision had somebody getting in front of me. When that happened I had to start over. And over, and over. It was hard. But it worked.

So, lets take it a step further. Say you recently lost your job. You know that you are really good at what you do. You have a great resume and lots of experience. You have a reputation in the industry for being excellent. You are positive that you will be a valuable addition to any company.

Most people in this situation say it like this to themselves. "Man, I can't believe I lost my job. This company is so stupid for laying me off, they can't replace my experience with only one person, so the layoff will end up actually costing them money. They will have to hire two people to do the work that I did. I should be able to get a new job, but lately all I am hearing about is how bad the economy is. I can't believe that I have to start looking for a new job. The economy is pretty tough right now, so I am probably going to have to take a pay cut. Well, that's OK I guess. I heard that Bob was out of work for over 6 months. Holy crap, how am I going to pay the mortgage if that happens? I guess that I could take a pretty sizable pay cut if I have to. Damn it, why did they have to fire me? How am I going to tell my wife? We are going to have to start being more conservative with how we spend money. Shit. I hope I don't end up without a job for a year. Well, I do have more experience than anybody I know. If the economy wasn't so tight right now I could find a job today. Damn, this is scary."

This person knows in their heart that they are the excellent at what they do. They should be able to get a job in a heartbeat. But the powerful emotions combined with the doubt will produce disastrous results. This person has already written the script for what will happen. In their head the "vision" is of them sitting at home with the bills piled high. They can already feel the despair that will be set upon them.

Now, if that person says, "Man, its about time I got out of that company. They were not using me to my abilities and I could have been making them so much more money. No wonder they are not doing well, they don't appreciate great employees. This will be a blessing in disguise. I will have a new job in a week and I can already feel the stress that that place caused me slipping away. I can't wait. I'm going to make some phone calls right now. I bet there will be a bidding war for me." In this persons head the "vision" is of their new well light office with a new computer and a nice fat paycheck in the top drawer.

This is more than just positive thinking, although that certainly goes along with it. In the latter paragraph the person is brimming with hope and positive emotions. To this person the economy matters not one little bit. The first guy will let each rejection fill him with more and more dread. He will go into each job interview already knowing that he won't get hired. And he's right. The second guy will blow through his job rejections and push on with confidence that anybody who didn't hire him lost out anyway. The each are literally creating what will happen.

So there is one more very important part to creating this vision for your self. Remember that I said that whatever you ask for is what you get? There is a catch. You have to be open to receiving it. You have to be on the lookout for the opportunity. Often times that will mean taking yourself out of your comfort zone. You might have to break routine (which will be another post within itself). But the opportunity will always be there for you. Whether or not you decide to see it and act upon it is up to you.

In the middle of the complete despair that I was in working for my Dad, a man made a comment to me about coming to work for him. I could have easily blown it off and missed a life changing opportunity.

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

Here's my dirty little secret: I hear about people I know getting laid off and most of the time, I am excited for them. The only other time you get to make a big change like that is if you quit and there's a big social stigma against quitting when you seemingly have nothing to complain about. That's what makes quitting harder than being asked to leave. Another example? This is one reason why people in bad relationships sabotage it so the other person will end it.

The complete end of something forces and frees you in a way nothing else does.

So this comment isn't exactly about LOA, but you did use the example of losing a job...

But speaking of LOA, I 100% agree with this way of life. How many times have you come across someone who's so positive, enthusiastic, confident that you think they must be special? The people to whom others are drawn have this energy and it feels good to be around them. -X

PS: I am keeping myself anonymous to ensure I remain authentic (oxymoron?). I am considering a blog, but haven't quite gotten down a theme that I can stand behind and which will last more than a couple of entries. In the meantime, thank you for indulging me through my comments.

About Me

My name is Nathan Sanel and I own National Powersports Distributors. I have a wonderful family with my wife Amy and my two children. Outside of my family, my life is full of passion for motorcycles, business, and long distance running.